Feed-water regulator for steam-generators.



A. G. MUMFORD.

FEED WATER REGULAIOR FOR STEAM GENERATORS.

APPLICATION man MAR. 1. I916.

1 206,238. Patented Nov. 28, 1916.

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A. G. MUMFORD.

FEED WATER REGULATOR FOR STEAM GENERATORS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7. 1915.

1,206,238. Patented Nov. 28, 1916.

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A. G. MUMFORD.

FE ED WATER REGULATOR FOR STEAM GENERATORS. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7. l9l6.

1 206,238. Patented Nov. 28, 1916.

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ARTHUR GEORGE MUMFORD, OF COLCHESTER, ENGLAND.

FEED-WATER REGULATOR FOR STEAM-GENERATORS- Specification of Letters Patent- Patented Nov, 28, 1916,

Application filed March 7, 1916. Serial No. 82,772.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR GEORGE MUM- roln), a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Achnacone, Braiswick, Colchester, in the county of Essex, England, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Feed- Water Regulators for Steam-Generators, of which the following is a full and complete specification.

This invention relates to improvements in feed water regulators for steam generators in which the quantity of water passed into the generator by means of the feed pump is controlled indirectly by a float under the influence of the variation of the water level in the generator; and the objects of my invention are, first, to provide a regulator which is so sensitive in action that the variation of the water level in the boiler will be reduced to a minimum; second, to reduce the size of the apparatus to a minimum whereby both a saving of first cost and an economy of space is effected; third, to enable the whole apparatus to be inspected and overhauled without the necessity of gaining access to the interior of the generator or putting the generator out of action; and fourth, to enable the parts subject to wear and in which a slight amount of wear will upset the sensitiveness of the apparatus to be readily renewed. I attain these objects by the construction shown in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a view in elevation-partly in sectionof the complete apparatus, Fig. 2 is a view in sectional elevation of the feed check valve and its balancing element, Fig.

feed delivery pump, and an outlet 0 which is connected to the generator through a stop .valve '0. On the stem a* of the check valve a is mounted a piston d which works in a small cylinder 6 formed in the casing a and located below the inlet 6. The piston d is an easy fit in the cylinder 6 in order that a predetermined small amount of the feed water can leak past itunder the pressure of the feed pump-into the lower part of the cylinder e beneath the piston 03. In the lower which is in communication with the interior of the generator by means of two pipes or passages m and 0?. arranged respectively above and below the working water level of the water in the generator, suitable stop valves m and n being provided in said pipes or passages. The float 0 is mounted on a lever 0 which is pivoted on a bracket is mounted in the box 70, said lever on the opposite side of the point of pivot carrying a balance weight 0 which is capable of adjustment on said lever.

The control valve hwhich is of the needle type-is mounted in a long bush bearing or guide Z which forms a guide having a minimum of friction. This bearing fits within the casing 9 but is mounted on and attached to the float box k so that the needle valve and its bearing or guide, the float, and the connections between said valve and the float is a complete self-contained element in-- dependent of the casing g which carries the seating r for said valve. The casing g is provided with an inlet 9 which is located above the valve 7 and is connected with the outlet 7 of the cylinder e by the pipe 20, and with an outlet 9 which is located below the valve h and may be connected with the feed pump suction pipe so as to utilize the water again.

The valve seat 1" is threaded into a hollow spindle 1' which forms an extension of a threaded spindle which is screwed into the casing g and is capable of adjustment therein by means of an exterior hand wheel whereby the position of said seat can be adjusted so as to vary the point at which the float opens and closes the control valve and enables the height at which the water level is kept constant to be varied to a certain ex tent.

The spindle k of the control valve It, which is of the same diameter as the orifice r of the seating r and therefore of a smaller diameter than the valve, has an enlarged extension t into which it is screwed and secured by a linch pin, the length of said spindle being such that it extends beyond the lower end of the guide which carries it. The

lower part of this extension has flats cut on I opposite sides to provide a lug t to which the links t t which couple the spindle h to the lever 0 carrying the float 0 are pivoted.

It will be understood that the float, the control valve, and its connecting mechanism are all balanced in water without steam pressure by adjusting the position of the weight 0 on the lever 0 and that the control valve is balanced under working conditions by reason of the orifice r of the seat ing 1 of the valve it having the same sectional area as the cross sectional area of the spindle if of the valve which compensates for the difference in the pressure exerted on the under and upper sides of the extension t.

It will be seen that the extension 25 is subject to the same pressure as the pressure in the generator and as the total area of the under side of said extension is greater than that of the exposed area of the upper side, it follows that there is an excess of pressure upward operating to keep the valve it closed. By making the area of the orifice r of the seating r of the control valve h equal to the cross sectional area of the spindle h the upward and downward pressures become balanced under the working conditions.

The action of the regulator is as follows :As the area of the piston (Z is equal to the area of the check valve a the pressure of the feed water acts equally both ways, viz. upward to lift the valve and downward on the piston to keep the valve on its seat, so that there is no pressure operating to lift the valve and the whole pressure in the generator is acting to keep the valve closed. So long as these conditions exist the pressure exerted by the feed pump is powerless to lift and open the valve and no feed water can enter the generator. Owing, however, to a small proportion of the feed water being allowed to leak past the piston (Z a pressure can be exerted on the underside of the piston equal to that exerted on the upper side by allowing the water which leaks past the piston to accumulate in the cylinder 6 under the piston. The effect of this is to balance the check valve and thus allow the feed water supplied by the pump to pass the valve and enter the gen erator. If the outlet f in the cylinder 6 is opened the water in the cylinder 0 under the piston (Z Will escape, thereby releasing the pressure under the piston and by so destroying the balance of the valve a again cause it to shut down and cut off the supply of feed water to the generator.

It will thus be seen that the mere opening or closing of the outlet 7 in the cylinder 6 is equivalent to and performs the same operations as shutting the valve a down or releasing same by means of the usual hand wheel, and that if the opening orclosing of the leakage outlet f is performed aut0matically by the rising or falling of the water in the generator the check valve a becomes self-regulating.

lVhen the water level in the generator rises the float 0 also rises and thus operates to draw the valve h downward and so open the orifice r and thereby the outlet 7 in the cylinder c. This releases the leakage water and by destroying the balance of the check valve causes same to close and remain shut, thereby cutting off the supply of feed water: When the water level in the generator falls the float 0 sinks, which lifts the valve h and closes the orifice r thereby stopping the flow of leakage water out of the cylinder 6 and thus reestablishing the balance of the check valve which allows the pressure of the feed water to lift said valve and pass into the generator. a

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a feed water regulator, the combination of a check or feed delivery valve, a

balancing piston coupled to said valve, a cylinder in which said piston works, an out let in said cylinder beneath said piston,

means for permitting a small proportion of the feed water to pass said balancing piston, a float box mounted on the exterior of the generator and in communication with the interior thereof, a balanced float operating in said box, acasing mounted on the float box and having an inlet and an outlet, a pipe connecting the outlet of the cylinder containing the balancing piston of the check or feed delivery valve with the inlet of said casing, a valve cooperating with said seating, a spindle for carrying said valve the diameter of which is smaller than the valve and the length of which is greater than that of its guide, a guide for said spindle mounted directly on the float box, an enlarged extension onlower end of said spindle, and

a coupling between said extension and the balanced float.

2. In a feed water regulator, the combination of acheck or feed delivery valve, a

balancing piston coupled to said valve, a cylj inder in which said piston'works, an outlet in said cylinder beneath said piston, means for permitting a small proportion of the feed water to pass said balancing piston, a float box mounted on the exterior of mounted directly on the float box the length of said guide being such that the spindle projects beyond its lower end, an enlarged extension on the lower end of said spindle, and a coupling between said extension and the balanced float.

3. In a feed water regulator the combination of a check or feed delivery valve, a balancing piston coupled to said valve, a cylinder in which said piston works, an outlet in said cylinder beneath said piston, means for permitting a small proportion of the feed water to pass said balancing piston, a float box mounted on the exterior of the generator in communication with the interior thereof, a casing mounted on the float box and having an inlet and an outlet, a pipe connecting the outlet of the cylinder containing the balancing piston of the check or feed delivery valve with the inlet of said casing, a detachable and'adjustable valve seating mounted in said casing, a valve cooperating with said seating, a spindle for carrying said valve the diameter of which 18 smaller than the valve, a gu1de for sald spindle mounted directly on the float box,

an enlarged extension at the lower end of said spindle, a lever pivoted in the float box, a float mounted on one end of said lever, a balance weight adjustably mounted on the other end of said lever, a couple between said float lever and the extension of the valve spindle, and means for adjusting the position of the seating of the controlling valve in relation to the float.

4. In a feed water regulator the combination of a check or feed delivery valve, a balancing piston coupled to said valve, a cylinder in which said piston works, an outlet in said cylinder beneath said piston, means for permitting a small proportion of the feed water to pass said balancing piston, a float box mounted on the exterior of the generator and in communication therewith by two pipes at different levels, a casing mounted on the float box and having an inlet and an outlet, a pipe connecting the outlet of the cylinder containing the balancing piston of the check or feed delivery valve with the inlet of said casing, a stop valve in said pipe, a valve seating mounted in said casing, a valve cooperating with,

said seating, a spindle for carrying said valve the diameter of which is smaller than the valve, a guide for said spindle mounted directly on the float box, an enlarged extension of said spindle at its lower end, a lever pivoted in the float box, a float mounted on one end of said lever, a balance weight adjustably mounted on the other end of said lever, and a coupling between said float lever and the enlarged end of the spindle carrying the valve.

5. The combination in a feed water regulator of a balancing piston coupled to the check or non-return valve in the delivery pipe of the feed pump, a cylinder in which said piston works, an outlet in said cylinder beneath said piston, means for permitting a small proportion of the feed Water to pass said balancing piston, a float box mounted on the exterior of the generator and in communication with the interior thereof by two pipes at different levels, a casing mounted on the float box and having an inlet and an outlet, a pipe connecting the outlet of the cylinder containing the balancing piston of the check or feed delivery valve with the inlet of said casing, a stop valve in said pipe, a detachable and adjustable valve seating mounted in said casing, a valve cooperating with said seating, a spindle carrying said valve, a guide for said ARTHUR GEORGE MUMFORD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

